«AYPF Wishes You a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!»
UPCOMING AYPF EVENTS
Forum – Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can Be Done About It – November 18, 2011
The vast majority of youth in developed nations finish high school, many more than in the United States, where the national high school graduation rate is about 70%. In his new book Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can Be Done About It, Russell Rumberger, Vice Provost for Education Partnerships, University of California, Santa Barbara offers a comprehensive overview of the dropout crisis in America, and addresses the fundamental questions of who drops out, why they dropout, and what happens when they do. Rumberger identifies challenges in current reform efforts, including an insufficient targeting of the true dropout factories, inadequate funding, and a lack of attention paid to the cost, sustainability, and scalability of interventions. Following Rumberger’s presentation, a panel of respondents will provide their insight for policy reform at the federal, state, and local levels to reduce the incidence of high school dropouts. Panelists include Daniel Fuller, Vice President, Communities In Schools, Elizabeth Grant, Special Assistant, US Department of Education, and Cassius Johnson, Associate Vice President, Jobs for the Future.
Webinar -The Impact of Higher Achievement’s Year-Round Out-of-School-Time Program on Academic Outcomes – December 6, 2011, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EST
Providing youth from historically disadvantaged backgrounds with the resources they need to succeed is challenging. Educators and policymakers are increasingly paying attention to out-of-school-time programs as a way of providing academic supports to help close the achievement gap, especially for students as they transition from elementary to middle grades.
Higher Achievement, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, is one of these programs. The program not only provides youth with a rigorous afterschool and summer academic experience, but also targets youth as they transition to middle school—a particularly daunting transition point where even strong students can fall behind—and serves them throughout the middle school years. The program also explicitly helps students apply to competitive high schools. Students in the after-school program engage in sessions that include homework help, dinner, an arts or recreation elective, a “community gathering,” and 75 minutes of small-group academic instruction using a structured curriculum. In addition, students participate in monthly field trips, career shadowing days, community service projects, and college visits.
The report discussed at this webinar summarizes the encouraging interim results of a groundbreaking study. Public/Private Ventures and Dr. Leigh Linden from the University of Texas at Austin recently completed the 24-month component of the larger evaluation (which will follow youth for 48 months) with positive initial findings. Panelists will provide an overview of Higher Achievement, examine the research findings, showcase one of the program sites, and address implications for policy and practice. Presenters include: Richard Tagle, CEO, Higher Achievement; Lynsey Wood Jeffries, Executive Director, Higher Achievement DC Metro; and Dr. Carla Herrera, Senior Research Fellow, Public/Private Ventures.
Forum – Using Data to Improve Quality in City-wide Afterschool Systems: Lessons from Providence, Rhode Island – December 9, 2011
City-wide afterschool systems have been developing across the country for several years now with the support of both public and private funds as education planners realize that work within the school day is not always enough to support the most marginalized students. Cities such as Providence, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, and New York have all worked hard to create a system in which students have access to engaging activities outside the school day. Yet, although efforts to scale up programs are a step in the right direction, it is also important that there is sufficient data within the system to both demonstrate the system’s success and inform quality improvements at the program and system level. AYPF will offer a two-part series on the use of data to improve quality in two city-wide afterschool systems—Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. This first forum will address the work being done in Providence. Tina Kauh of Public/Private Ventures will discuss findings from the latest Public/Private Ventures evaluation of AfterZone, a city-wide network of afterschool providers in Providence. Hillary Salmons of the Providence After School Alliance and Bridget Kubis Prescott of Save the Bay will then discuss how data is used to support key levers that improve program quality and student outcomes throughout the system.
Webinar – Using Data and Inquiry to Build Equity-Focused College-Going Cultures – December 14, 2011, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EST
In this webinar, the Center for Urban Education (CUE), Boston Public Schools, and the National College Access Network (NCAN) will describe their work in promoting an equity-based college-going culture through the use of the Equity Scorecard™—a change process, previously implemented only in the college and university setting, that examines racial inequities in educational outcomes. A pilot project engaged practitioners in two very diverse high schools in Boston in action-oriented research to raise their awareness of existing racial inequities and developing plans to eliminate them. Presenters will discuss the process of analyzing data and changing practices as well as highlight recommendations for institutions and districts looking to promote a more equitable college-going culture.
Forum – Using Data to Improve Quality in City-wide Afterschool Systems: Lessons from Boston, Massachusetts – December 19, 2011
The second forum in the series on the use of data to improve quality in two city-wide afterschool systems will highlight the work in Boston. The focus will include findings from Volume II of the recent Wallace Foundation-commissioned report, Hours of Opportunity: the Power of Data to Improve After-School Systems Citywide. Jennifer Sloan-McCombs, Senior Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation, will discuss the role of management information systems in building quality systems. Boston’s city-wide data alignment efforts will then be highlighted with presentations by Daphne Griffin, Executive Director from the public agency Boston Centers for Youth and Families, and Chris Smith, Executive Director, Boston Afterschool & Beyond. They will discuss the implementation of data systems that inform students, programs, and policy makers as well as align resources among multiple entities.
AYPF PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES
End-of-Year Publication Sale – 50% Off
From November to the end of December, all AYPF publications are 50% off the listed price. To order an AYPF publication, please see the publication section of our webpage, and fill out an order form found here. Shipping & handling rates are listed at the end of the order form. Please contact John Wesley at (202) 775-9731 or email him (jwesley@aypf.org) for rates on bulk order and for shipping charges for orders to be sent outside the continental U.S.
Forum Brief – The Impact of Higher Achievement’s Year-Round Out-of-School-Time Program on Academic Outcomes
Providing youth from historically disadvantaged backgrounds with the resources they need to succeed is challenging. One of the particularly daunting transition points is from elementary to middle school, where even strong students can fall behind. Educators and policymakers are increasingly paying attention to out-of-school-time programs as a way of providing academic supports to help close the achievement gap.
Higher Achievement, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, is one of these programs, which not only targets youth as they transition to middle school, but also serves them throughout the middle school years – providing a rigorous after-school and summer academic program that gives youth from at-risk communities their best opportunity to succeed in middle school. The report discussed at this forum summarized the encouraging interim results of a groundbreaking study. Public/Private Ventures and Dr. Leigh Linden, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin, recently completed the 24-month component of the larger evaluation (which will follow youth for 48 months) with positive initial findings. Panelists provided an overview of Higher Achievement, examined the research findings, showcased one of the program sites, and addressed implications for policy and practice. Presenters included Richard Tagle, CEO, Higher Achievement; Dr. Leigh Linden, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin; Lynsey Wood Jeffries, Executive Director, Higher Achievement DC Metro; and Jasmin Cook, Alumna of Higher Achievement DC Metro, and student at George Washington University.
AYPF EMPLOYMENT AND INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Database Administrator/Administrative Assistant (Part-time Position)
AYPF is seeking a part-time Database Administrator/Administrative Assistant to join our small nonprofit team dedicated to providing learning events to education and youth policymakers. We are looking for an experienced database administrator to help manage the change process and adapt a new customer relationship management (CRM) system to our unique needs and suggest ways to continuously improve and streamline our work. We are looking for an individual who is familiar with database management software, CRM programs, e-mail management with list segmentation, and who can determine ways to store, organize, analyze, use, and present data. This position will be a part-time position, for between 24-30 hours per week, at an hourly rate of between $18-$24 depending on experience. AYPF will work with the individual to determine an advantageous and flexible work schedule. Please send resume, cover letter, and complete list of three references to Christine Wilson at cwilson@aypf.org by November 23, 2011. For more information, please visit our website at https://www.aypf.org/about/employment.htm.
Internship Opportunities at AYPF for Spring, 2012
AYPF is hiring Interns for the Spring semester. Internships at AYPF are substantive in nature, and interns are integral members of our team. Interns are expected to engage in a variety of activities, including researching and analyzing data, writing fact sheets and summaries, and planning and helping to run forums and briefings on Capitol Hill. Please visit our website for more information: https://www.aypf.org/about/employment.htm and apply by December 5th.
RECOMMENDED READING AND RESOURCES
Check these out – recommended reading from the AYPF staff
Profile of the California Partnership Academies, 2009-10 Career Academy Support Network, University of California, Berkeley
This profile issued by the Career Academy Support Network reports that in their 27th year of operation, California Partnership Academies (CPAs) have proved a durable model, although CPAs remain rather sparsely distributed throughout the state, occurring in just 22% of high schools. The average annual state funding of about $547 per student is quadrupled by local matching contributions. CPAs support a broad range of career themes. Ethnic data suggest good diversity, and gender balance in the large majority of academies is also good. Academy students slightly outperform statewide averages on California high school exit exam pass rates, substantially outperform them in meeting A-G course requirements for University of California and California State University systems, and report much higher graduation rates for seniors, especially among students of color. These results are encouraging since, by law, at least half of the students entering a CPA must meet specific “at-risk” criteria, and most CPAs are in low-performing high schools. The academy approach, which combines small learning communities, integrated academic and career-technical curriculum, and partnerships with employers and higher education, evidently continues to prepare students for both college and careers.
Data: The Missing Piece to Improve Student Achievement Data Quality Campaign
This interactive visual guide issued by the Data Quality Campaign asserts that building and using statewide longitudinal data systems can transform education into a data-driven enterprise in which quality data are not only collected, but also used to increase student achievement. The guide explains what is meant by data, how they help, and what can be done so that all stakeholders can “shine a light on what is working to make informed decisions.”
A Guide to Major U.S. College Completion Initiatives American Association of State Colleges and Universities
While the United States has focused on improving access to higher education, many other nations have made steady progress over recent decades in increasing educational attainment. As a result, the U.S. has slipped to 15th place in the proportion of younger workers (ages 25-34) who hold a postsecondary degree or certificate; this is a threat to the nation’s global competitiveness. This paper issued by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities provides background information on the topic and summarizes 13 major college completion projects. The origins for each completion initiative are briefly discussed, as are the associated funding partners, key goals and objectives, accomplishments achieved and time frame for future plans.
Reimagining the School Day: More Time for Learning The Wallace Foundation
This report summarizes the discussion at a Wallace Foundation national forum of leaders in education, after-school programming, government and other areas to discuss expanding learning time for disadvantaged youth. Attendees expressed excitement about growing interest and experimentation in more learning time with a general acknowledgement that much more needs to be learned about what works and what does not.
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional development organization based in Washington, DC, provides learning opportunities for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers working on youth and education issues at the national, state, and local levels.
AYPF events and publications are made possible by a consortium of philanthropic foundations: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York , State Farm Insurance, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and others.
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